MS 2

Petrarch,
Canzoniere
with hand-written facsimile of Babylon sonnets in the printed edition: Il Petrarca con l’espositione d’Alessandro Vellutello, di
nuovo ristampato con le figure ai Trionfi, con le apostille, e con piv cose vtili aggiunte (Venice:
Vincenzo Valgrifi, 1560).
ff. 142r-143v, two folios inserted in the 18th or 19th century, containing the
hand-written copy (in imitation of the italic and roman fonts of the original printed version) of
Petrarch’s Rerum vulg. fragm., sonnets nos. 166, 114, 136, 138, and
canzone 144, vv. 1-15 (first stanza), with a copy in the same hand of the accompanying commentary by
Alessandro Vellutello. The original folios, containing the Babylon sonnets (Rerum vulg.
fragm. 114, 136, 138) were torn out of the book (with adjacent poems on same pages) in
accordance with the papal ban (the Index Librorum Prohibitorum of Pope Paul IV, in
1559, prohibited these sonnets from being read).1 Many
printed editions and manuscript copies of the Rerum vulg. fragm. were mutilated by
readers who felt compelled to expunge the Babylon poems from Petrarch’s collection, and a
number of them have been restored in facsimile by enterprising copyists.2Description of ff. 142r-143v in facsimile compared to the
original printed version: f. 142r, Facsimile: commentary, "impedito, &
non che per propria ... esso cuore essere in Hierusalem, terra di promissione." Printed: the commentary is completed for the sonnet "Quando piu disiose l’ali," and
continues through the first two verses (and beg. of commentary) of "S’io fossi stato fermo a
la spelunca".f. 142v, Facsimile: the last part of the commentary for sonnet "S’io
fossi stato fermo", "e libera, Et egli in Egitto ... nulla si passio"; all of sonnet "S’io
fossi stato fermo" and its commentary; the first five lines of "De l’empia Babilonia" and
beg. of commentary "Nel presente Sonetto ... che in quella esser solevano e da". Printed: the last 12 lines of "S’io fossi stato fermo" and accompanying commentary, as
well as the first 11 lines of verse of "De l’empia Babilonia" with accompanying commentary
that is completed on the following page.f. 143r, Facsimile: begins with the 6th verse of "De l’empia
Babilonia", finishes the poem and has the remaining commentary; all of "Fiamma dal ciel" and all of
commentary; all of sonnet "Fontana di dolore" and beginning of commentary that continues on verso of f.
143 (commentary: "... Onde Dante nel XIX del’infer. Ai Constantin. di quanto mal fu matre non
la conversion, ma quella dote [catchword: che]". Printed:
begins with the last three lines of "De l’empia Babilonia" and remaining commentary; all of
"Fiamma dal ciel" and its commentary; all of "Fontana di dolore" and the first part of the commentary
that continues on verso of f. 143 (commentary: Onde Dante nel XIX de l’infer. ai Constantin
di quanto mal fu matre, Non la tua conversione, ma quella dote, Che da te prese il primo ricco patre.
Dice [catchword: adunque]. The scribe of the hand-written text has almost caught
up with the printed version, leaving this to the verso of f. 143.f. 143v, Facsimile: five lines of commentary to "Fontana di dolore"; All of
"Mai non vo piu cantar" and beginning of commentary (same as printed edition). Printed: four lines of commentary of "Fontana di dolore"; all of "Mai non vo piu cantar" and
beginning of commentary.
Other features related to the Babylon sonnets in the printed edition:
f. 147v, "L’avara Babilonia ha colmo ’l sacco" (RVF 136), one of
the Babylon sonnets that escaped destruction, appearing here intact in original printed form with commentary
by Vellutello.ff. 214v-215r, Printed index list of first verses of the Rerum vulg.
fragm., with folio numbers: f. 214v, De l’empia Babilonia,
ond’è fuggita 142 (RVF 114)f. 214v, Fiamma dal ciel su le tue treccie piova 143 (RVF 136)f. 214v, Fontana di dolore, albergo d’ira 143 (RVF 138)f. 215r, L’avara Babilonia ha colmo il sacco 142 (RVF 137)Both sonnets "De l’empia Babilonia, ond’è fuggita" (RVF 114) and
"L’avara Babilonia ha colmo il sacco" (Rvf 137 ) are listed in the index as being on f. 142v, but
"De l’empia Babilonia" (in handwritten copy) actually appears on f. 142v and f. 143r, whereas
"L’avara Babilonia" appears in original printed form on f. 147v. This order of the poems and
possible typographical error are present in other 1560 editions of this edition. The order of the poems
differs from the final version of the Rerum vulg. fragm. as based on
Cod. Vat. Lat. 3195
.3
ORIGINPrinted in
Italy
, and the manuscript insert was probably also done in Italy.
PROVENANCEAcquired in 2004.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Dutschke, "Supplement II," pp. 12-15.

Notes

1. In the 1557 Roman index, alongside other well-known prohibited authors who have published works that are
“invitations to heresy or to some form of deceitful impiety or a certain type of obscene
trupitude,” appears Petrarch (cited for his Babylon Sonnets and anti-Avignon letters Sine
nomine). In 1559, Blado published the Instructio circa indicem librorum prohibitorum that
contained a series of clarification on the 1559 Index, and marked the official beginning of expurgation of literary
texts. It would seem likely that the excising or cancellation of the Babylon Sonnets from the Canzoniere, in accordance with the Instructio, began in the mid‐16th century. See
Cristina Dondi, "Per un censimento di incunaboli e cinquecentine postillati dei Rerum vulgarium fragmenta e dei Triumphi VIII. Oxford: Bodleian Library,
Aevum, 74 (2000), pp. 675-707.

2. Cfr. the restoration work of 19th-century John Harris on 1471 Decameron, in Neil Harris, “The Ripoli Decameron, Guglielmo Libri and the
‘Incomparabile’ Harris,” in The Italian Book 1465-1800, Studies Presented to
Dennis E. Rhodes, edited by Denis V. Reidy, London, The British Library, 1993, pp. 323-333, and
another similar artist in Italy, in Neil Harris, “The unicum of
the second edition of Bioardo’s Orlando Innamorato and a forgery of the last
century,” Rivista di letteratura italiana, 4 (1986), pp. 519-36.